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amenbpdtism · 6 months ago

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A Look at Nightcord at 25:00 and Neurodivergency (Part 1)

Note: Neurodivergent doesn't only go for autism and adhd, the coiner said it encompasses many disorders like ptsd, personality disorders, etc so I will include them too. Others might have different opininons, I just wanted to share mine.

Nightcord at 25:00 in the underground music circle unit from the rhythm game Project SEKAI and while they're often made fun of or joked as the "emo group" or "depression unit", the writers actually did an excellent job at portraying mental health and disability coding in my opinion. Now let's look at them character by character, shall we?

Sources I will be using are mainly DSM-5 but also ICD-11, embraceautism and the shitborderlinesdo blog for a less stigmatizing language on the symptoms and mainly for common traits people with these disorders experience.

Warning for r-slur in criteria from DSM

Yoisaki Kanade

Yoisaki Kanade is the face of the unit "Nightcord at 25:00" and the composer of the group. In terms of personality, she's very introverted; unwilling to go out of her routine or do things unrelated to music a lot. Now let's have a look at her and her symptoms.

Autism

Autism is mainly charactherized by social differences and repetetiveness in daily life to summerize a medical or common definition of it.

"A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple con- texts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative,

not exhaustive; see text):

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.

Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures: to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.

Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest"

In other words

"A1 asks if your social interaction is neurotypical

Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity; ranging from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back and forth conversation through reduced sharing of interests, emotions, and affect and response to total lack of initiation of social interaction.[6]

You might behave differently in social settings than what is expected by society. For instance, when meeting someone for the first time, you launch into a monologue about yourself or one of your interests. Or, as an adult, you might mask but still struggle to maintain conversations built around small talk rather than in-depth discussions.

Do you like/love small talk?

Do you use small talk to indicate your class, education, income, religion, and political views without saying it directly?

Do you like being in social gatherings for extended periods?

Do you prefer speaking superficially and generally, rather than about your areas of interest?

Do you choose to hang out and socialize with people rather than interact for a purpose?

A2 asks about differences in eye contact, voice, body language

Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviours used for social interaction; ranging from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication, through abnormalities in eye contact and body language, or deficits in understanding and use of nonverbal communication, to total lack of facial expression or gestures.[7]

Here we are talking about body language, facial expressions, vocal timbre, pitch, and volume. You might not like eye contact, or you might stare. You might smile or laugh at times when something makes you sad. You might have a hard time reading others’ body language and knowing what they are feeling. You may be able to, but it will be a skill you’ve acquired and not something you know intuitively.

A3 asks if you have differences in your relationships

Deficits in developing and maintaining relationships, appropriate to developmental level (beyond those with caregivers); ranging from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit different social contexts through difficulties in sharing imaginative play and in making friends to an apparent absence of interest in people.[8]

Generally, by the time you reach adulthood, it becomes harder to make and keep friends. For example, suppose you tick A1 and A2. In that case, you will also tick A3 because if you struggle to communicate verbally and non-verbally, it will be harder to make and keep neurotypical friends.

For example, it can be tough to know when a person is a true friend and not just saying that they are a friend; or if someone is flirting with you or not."

So let's look at Kanade:

A1; she has trouble initiating conversations, especially if it's not about music or a tendency to talk on and on only on her side about music so this would likely check the first criteria.

A2; Kanade has many atypical non-verbal interaction behaviours such speaking in a really low, whipsery tone and she also doesn't know how to reciprocate other's emotions or how to react in that meoment or even get her focus away from creating songs for that matter. These three criterias are sort of related so I'd say she checks this too.

A3; I don't like the wording in this one because it obviously targets children and there's no seperate criteria for autistic adults. But Kanade has trouble making friends for sure, a good part of this is due to her not going outside often which might be due to sensory issued that I'll get into later but as I already mentioned, she has trouble making conversations that don't relate to music which already limits her friendships to other people who are interested in music so as a result of her other symptoms, Kanade has trouble making friends so I'd say she shows this symptom too.

"B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at

least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).

Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat same food every day).

Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interest in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement)."

In other words:

"B1- Stimming

B2-A need for routine or sameness

B3- Special Insterest(s)

B4- Sensory issues whether it's being too sensitive to incoming stimuli or undersensitive"

For Kanade:

B1; DSM definition mostly focuses on little children again and this is kinda hard to spot as 2D Models don't offer much movement and there are some phrases she uses often but they're mostly daily life phrases or "I have to save people" so I don't know if she could count for this symptom or not but if I'm missing anything, I'd love for other users to inform me!

B2; She does have a routine she quite strictly follows like her daily life mostly goes with the same things with little space to change even in terms for food which this can be explained by other reasons but I also see why many people would see this as a part of her autism.

B3; For Kanade this could be music, yes she has an intense interest in music because she believes she can save people that way but as I mentioned before, she's also almost only able to only interact with others when music is brought up so I'd say this symptom is present in her too.

B4; Kanade is super sensitive sunlight and doesn't like foods like natto because of their heavy smell so I'd say she checks this symptom too.

Someone has to show all 3 symptoms in A criteria and at least 2 in B criteria since birth so I can see why people would see Kanade as autistic or consider her autistic-coded among other things.

Also some common traits Kanade shows are:

difficulty picking up on sarcasm.

often uses overly literal language.

difficulty opening up to others and sharing my emotions.

feels anxiety in social situations.

is (kinda) clumsy.

experienced shutdowns or experiences close to it

is easily overwhelmed when there are too many people.

Dysgraphia

I'm gonna cut this short, dysgraphia is a learning disablity characterized by differences/difficulty in handwriting and typing. While we didn't really see Kanade write that much, she did seem to struggle with typing after SpoJoy event so I thought it was worth adding/considering.

Major Depressive Disorder

MDD for short, is mostly characterized by low mood and changes in daily actions due to it in daily life for 2 weeks or more to sum it up.

The symptoms are:

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad, empty, hopeless) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). (Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.)

Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation).

Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. (Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gain.)

Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.

Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others).

Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Symptoms Kanade shows are:

Feels depressed most of the time by both subjective and outside report, she focuses intensely on music and saving people that she has trouble defining herself outside of it which could be a sign of emptiness and she's disappointed in herself when she doesn't produce a song that can save Mafuyu or isn't even fully satisfied when she can, I assume these would lead to a pretty depressed mood.

While I'd say music is an interest, it also seems like it became more of a duty now than just an interest so maybe it did diminish as an interest, I'm not quite sure.

She doesn't eat to the point of fainting at one or multiple points so I'd assume she lost a lot of weight too.

She seems to get little sleep due to her "need" to save people so insomnia could be checked however I am not sure if this could be better accounted by another disability or is accounted by depression/her low mood as well.

Psychomotor agitation or slowment (I'd rather not use that word) seems present as her movement is a lot slower than her peers in many contexts, this could be due to her other -especially phsyical- disabilities as well but I think it relates to her depression too.

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly everyday is present too, she barely has any energy to go outside for example and has loss of energy due to her other symptoms as well as lack of energy to barely do anything outside of composing.

She does feel worthless and places her worth merely on if she can save others so yes, this symptom is definetely present.

Once again this seems present outside her ability to compose or do her routine things, she seems trouble thinking what to say in many situations which may or may not be accounted by something else. I'm merely reviewing common headcanons or coding I see and why people might see that way or if they actually fit the criteria, if so, how?

Kanade, like the rest of niigo, struggles with suicidal ideation a lot and has been stated to "want to disappear" inside the game so this symptom definetely checks.

Someone needs to show 5 or more of these symptoms to be diagnosed so I can see why people would see her as having mdd or a different depressive disorder.

Other common traits that Kanade also shows include;

difficulty finding the motivation to clean or do other household tasks.

constantly feel the need to apologize.

experience body aches and pains, despite not doing any physical activity to cause strain.

often blame myself for things which could not possibly be my fault

often have a skewed perception of time.

Social Anxiety Disorder

Also known as Socialphobia, SAD or social anxiety for short is a disorder charactherized by anxiety, often intense, in social situation to sum it up.

Let's look at the symptoms again:

"A. Marked fear or anxiety about one or more social situations in which the individual is exposed to possible scrutiny by others. Examples include social interactions (e.g., having a conversation, meeting unfamiliar people), being observed (e.g., eating or drinking), and performing in front of others (e.g., giving a speech).

Note: In children, the anxiety must occur in peer settings and not just during interactions with adults.

B. The individual fears that he or she will act in a way or show anxiety symptoms that will be negatively evaluated (i.e., will be humiliating or embarrassing: will lead to rejection or offend others). C. The social situations almost always provoke fear or anxiety. Note: In children, the fear or anxiety may be expressed by crying, tantrums, freezing, clinging, shrinking, or failing to speak in social situations. D. The social situations are avoided or endured with intense fear or anxiety.

E. The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual threat posed by the social situation and to the sociocultural context. F. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting for 6 months or more."

Rest are about it causing distress to indivual and is not better explained by another disability.

Let's look at Kanade's symptoms:

A. She does have trouble talking to people she never met before but she also seems to be comfortable after getting to know the indivual a bit and if i remember correctly, didn't have any trouble playing the piano with Mafuyu in 2nd Anniversary event or the New Years event after.

B. She does struggle with a fear of being eveluated in a bad way by others or making a "social mistake".

C. She does seem always uncomfortable or anxious in even thought of social situations, especially with people she doesn't know so this might count.

D. She does avoid them most of the time though it became less over the course of the story.

E. Again she's anxious when others are not most of the time.

F. This did last for a very long time, maybe even years to our knowledge.

Kanade almost fits all of these symptoms or show anxiety in one way or another in most social, especially unfamiliar social, situations so there's some merit to people seeing her as socialphobia-coded too.

Common traits seen in Kanade:

speaks very softly

described by others as shy or withdrawn.

doesn’t like to disclose intimate details about myself.

Agoraphobia

Agoraphobia is characterized by anxiety or panic attacks in going out, being in public spaces and such.

The symptoms are:

A. Marked fear or anxiety about two (or more) of the following five situations:

Using public transportation (e.g., automobiles, buses, trains, ships, planes).

Being in open spaces (e.g., parking lots, marketplaces, bridges).

Being in enclosed places (e.g., shops, theaters, cinemas).

Standing in line or being in a crowd.

Being outside of the home alone.

B. The individual fears or avoids these situations because of thoughts that escape might be difficult or help might not be available in the event of developing panic-like symptoms or other incapacitating or embarrassing symptoms (e.g., fear of falling in the elderly; fear of incontinence).

C. The agoraphobic situations almost always provoke fear or anxiety. D. The agoraphobic situations are actively avoided, require the presence of a companion, or are endured with intense fear or anxiety. E. The fear or anxiety is out of proportion to the actual danger posed by the agoraphobic situations and to the sociocultural context. F. The fear, anxiety, or avoidance is persistent, typically lasting for 6 months or more.

Rest are about it causing distress to indivual and is not better explained by another disability.

Symptoms Kanade shows are:

A. Marked fear or anxiety about two (or more) of the following five situations:

Being in open spaces (e.g., parking lots, marketplaces, bridges).

Standing in line or being in a crowd.

Being outside of the home alone.

While it has lessened through the course of the game, Kanade had trouble going outside at all for a long time unless she had to, which is a big trouble for many people with agoraphobia, some not even being able to go out when they need to.

B. While I'm not completely sure why, Kanade does seem to have trouble going out with symptoms of socialphobia as well as sensory issues so I believe this symptom counts too however I don't know or remember if she ever feared not being able to escape outside of losing rest of niigo in the crowd.

C. These situation did cause anxiety or at least discomfort to her, yes.

E. While it never seemed to be enough to cause panic attacks (ICD-11 mentioned panic attacks a lot), she did seem to struggle a lot more than others so this symptom may count.

F. These symptoms also lasted for a long time.

And once again, I can see why many people saw Kanade as agoraphobic.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Or GAD for short is a disorder charactherized by anxiety in various things that might occur in daily life.

The symptoms are:

"A. Excessive anxiety and worry (apprehensive expectation), occurring more days than not for at least 6 months, about a number of events or activities (such as work or school performance). B. The individual finds it difficult to control the worry.

C. The anxiety and worry are associated with three (or more) of the following six symptoms (with at least some symptoms having been present for more days than not for the past 6 months); Note: Only one item is required in children.

Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge.

Being easily fatigued.

Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank.

Irritability.

Muscle tension.

Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep)."

I'm gonna cut this short, I haven't seen any say Kanade is gad-coded per se but generally anxious characters tend to fit the criteria for gad along with other anxiety disorders however in this case, I'd say her anxiety is better explained by agoraphobia or socialphobia; she doesn't go to school so we don't really know if she experiences much anxiety about that and she does experience anxiety about not making a good enough song however I'm not sure if that alone would be enough as if she worried about other daily events, I don't remember at the moment.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD for short is a disorder charactherized by either obsessions, compulsions or both. Obsessions in this case refer to intrusive aka unwanted thoughts and compulsions to reduce anxiety caused by them. Intrusive thoughts can be a number of things like "What if my family gets sick", "what if i hurt my brother" or "my pet" and compulsions might be directly related to this such as compulsive hand-washing, hiding the sharp objects or avoiding being near your brother or pets to avoid "hurting" them or sometimes unrelated like "i have to flip the light switch 10 times exactly so my brother won't die". It's a complex disorder with many different characteristics and its own spectrum of disabilities however this is diagnostic criteria with either obsessions or compulsions taking at least one hour out of your day to be diagnosed.

Now onto Kanade, I can see why people see her as having OCD as the intrusive thought being "hurting" or "not being able to save others" like it happened with her dad and a constantly trying to make a song to avoid that from happening again or even only having compulsions as diagnostic criteria says obsessions or compulsions even if they commonly occur together.

Some common traits I believe are present in Kanade are:

overestimates how threatening something really is

is a perfectionist.

is constantly checking on things to make sure they’re working properly or are okay.

sets higher standards for herself than she does for other people.

feels she must be in complete control of her thoughts and feelings at all times.

has difficulty breaking routines.

experiences a lot of anxiety.

has difficulty sleeping.

Also some of the other symptoms I mentioned before such as insomnia might be due to Kanade's compulsions instead too.

(Complex) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Or C/PTSD for short is a disorder quite literally in the name, it includes experiencing a traumatic event and many issues in your daily life in the aftermath.

Symptoms are: "A. Exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence in one (or more) of the following ways:

Directly experiencing the traumatic event(s).

Witnessing, in person, the event(s) as it occurred to others.

Learning that the traumatic event(s) occurred to a close family member or close friend. In cases of actual or threatened death of a family member or friend, the event(s) must have been violent or accidental.

Experiencing repeated or extreme exposure to aversive details of the traumatic event(s) (e.g., first responders collecting human remains: police officers repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). Note: Criterion A4 does not apply to exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures, unless this exposure is work related.

B. Presence of one (or more) of the following intrusion symptoms associated with the traumatic event(s), beginning after the traumatic event(s) occurred:

Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive distressing memories of the traumatic event(s). Note: In children older than 6 years, repetitive play may occur in which themes or aspects of the traumatic event(s) are expressed.

Recurrent distressing dreams in which the content and/or affect of the dream are related to the traumatic event(s). Note: In children, there may be frightening dreams without recognizable content.

Dissociative reactions (e.g., flashbacks) in which the individual feels or acts as if the traumatic event(s) were recurring. (Such reactions may occur on a continuum, with the most extreme expression being a complete loss of awareness of present surroundings.) Note: In children, trauma-specific reenactment may occur in play.

Intense or prolonged psychological distress at exposure to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event(s).

Marked physiological reactions to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the traumatic event(s).

C. Persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the traumatic event(s), beginning after the traumatic event(s) occurred, as evidenced by one or both of the following:

Avoidance of or efforts to avoid distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event(s).

Avoidance of or efforts to avoid external reminders (people, places, conversations, activities, objects, situations) that arouse distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings about or closely associated with the traumatic event(s).

D. Negative alterations in cognitions and mood associated with the traumatic event(s), beginning or worsening after the traumatic event(s) occurred, as evidenced by two (or more) of the following:

Inability to remember an important aspect of the traumatic event(s) (typically due to dissociative amnesia and not to other factors such as head injury, alcohol, or drugs).

Persistent and exaggerated negative beliefs or expectations about oneself, others, or the world (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted,” ‘The world is completely dangerous,” “My whole nervous system is permanently ruined”).

Persistent, distorted cognitions about the cause or consequences of the traumatic event(s) that lead the individual to blame himself/herself or others.

Persistent negative emotional state (e.g., fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame).

Markedly diminished interest or participation in significant activities.

Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.

Persistent inability to experience positive emotions (e.g., inability to experience happiness, satisfaction, or loving feelings).

E. Marked alterations in arousal and reactivity associated with the traumatic event(s), beginning or worsening after the traumatic event(s) occurred, as evidenced by two (or more) of the following:

Irritable behavior and angry outbursts (with little or no provocation) typically expressed as verbal or physical aggression toward people or objects.

Reckless or self-destructive behavior.

Hypervigilance.

Exaggerated startle response.

Problems with concentration.

Sleep disturbance (e.g., difficulty falling or staying asleep or restless sleep).

F. Duration of the disturbance (Criteria B, C, D, and E) is more than 1 month."

Now let's look at Kanade:

A. Kanade has experienced the hospilitazation of her dad which we know was traumatic to her and could fit a number of these so I'm cutting it short.

B1. Kanade often has thoughts going back to her dad collapsing or events related to it such as him telling her she'll became an amazing composer.

C1-2.As I touched on the OCD section, Kanade tries hard to avoid from such thing happening again which can be in a way seen as her avoiding such activity from ever happening again but besides that she doesn't avoid the hospital nor her father's room.

D2. Kanade does believe herself to be a bad person, especially if she can't compose a "proper" song (according to ICD-11, this is a symptom of C-PTSD)

D3. Kanade constantly blames herself for the event.

D4-7. Most of the time, she's unable to be happy or believes she doesn't deserve to be happy (which I believe is a CPTSD symptom too)

D5. She literally quit physical school so yes.

E2. While this might not be what DSM exactly wants, she doees self destruct by avoiding food or human interaction especially post-trauma

E6. She has trouble falling asleep or getting proper sleep because of guilt

F. These symptoms lasted for a year or so

So, as many probably expected, we can say Kanade probably has ptsd or even cptsd but of course, I'll look at common ptsd traits I see on her too:

feels anxious and worried a lot.

is easily startled.

Since the event happened, she have lost interest in things she used to enjoy.

rarely makes plans for the future.

has difficulty picturing the future at all.

Sometimes reminders of what happened to her can have a physical effect on her , such as light-headedness or an upset stomach.

experiences prolonged periods of sadness or hopelessness.

is unable to keep up with her daily routine, such as going to work or school or doing chores around the home.

often blame herself for what happened to her.

feels guilty about what she did and didn’t do during the traumatic event.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

ARFID for short, is and eating disorder characterized by a lack of interest in eating or sensory characteristics of the food.

The symptoms are:

Significant weight loss (or failure to achieve expected weight gain or faltering growth in children).

Significant nutritional deficiency.

Dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements.

Marked interference with psychosocial functioning.

1st symptom is present in Kanade due to a lack of interest in food, however this symptom is mainly caused by her intense focus on composing so it might count as accounted by a different disorder or situation and she may or may not be diagnosed.

Common traits Kanade also has are:

texture of a lot of food really bothers her, so she finds it difficult to eat.

tends to avoid eating just to avoid going to the bathroom later or used to.

very sensitive to the smell, color, taste, temperature, and/or appearance of food.

seems to be a picky eater

Insomnia Disorder

Also gonna cut this short, she experiences sleep disturbance especially due to lack of sleep but since we don't know the details like how often it happens and it can be better explained by other conditions, I'm not sure if she could realistically be diagnosed but I wouldn't be surprised if anyone saw her that way. However the symptoms are:

Difficulty initiating sleep. (In children, this may manifest as difficulty initiating sleep without caregiver intervention.)

Difficulty maintaining sleep, characterized by frequent awakenings or problems returning to sleep after awakenings. (In children, this may manifest as difficulty returning to sleep without caregiver intervention.)

Early-morning awakening with inability to return to sleep.

Mainly 2 and maybe 1 can been seen in Kanade, depending on your perception too.

Borderline Personality Disorder

BPD for short, is a disorder categorized by marked impuslivity, instability in relationships and sense of self as well as fear of abandonment to cut it short.

Symptoms are:

Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5.)

A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.

Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.

Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). (Note: Do not include suicidal or self- mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5.)

Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior.

Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).

Chronic feelings of emptiness.

Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).

Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms."

Now let's look at Kanade:

1.Now Kanade's never outright stated to fear people abandoning her however she's scared of losing more people which is natural and her frantic fixation on composing can be seen as a frantic effort

2.Now this is one I haven't seen Kanade display however let me know if she did and I missed it

3.She does experience an unstable sense of self, which heavily only relies on whether she can make the right songs or not

4.Since this is still a relatively family-friendly game, most characters don't do the examples given here however Kanade can be impulsive when it comes to composing once again at the risk of her own good such as can skip meals (which can be an opposite but still impulsive act to binge eating I believe) on impulse or focus entirely on composing on impulse

5.She does have reccurent suicidal thoughts which I believe can be counted as "suicidal behavior" or her skipping meals can be seen as self-harm

6.Kanade's quick to spiral into depression or a worse mood, especially when the songs don't come out as she wants so this could be seen as present

7.Chronics feeling of emptiness is present too, she doesn't know what to feel or who she is or has any goals besides composing songs or did for the longest time, this could be better accounted by somethinglike depression maybe however the symptom itself is present

8.Kanade has shown intense angry outbursts a few times however these were mostly directed at herself.

9.Now the reason I left these out in PTSD and such too is because I don't remember if Kanade dissociates or how her dissociative symptoms present so if someone else remembers, please let me know as well.

While I don't wannan use the subtypes often in order to not seperate us too much, it can be useful discuss our experiences sometimes so I will use them sometimes when necessary in this post. Kanade is often seen as having "quiet bpd" where you internalize your symptoms and especially direct your anger at yourself which I can see why people see that in her.

Some common BPD traits Kanade has are:

has disordered eating patterns.

is sometimes obsessive.

sometimes gets intrusive thoughts which she's unable to ignore.

becomes attached easily.

has trouble sleeping.

can have a child-like curiosity.

has poor self-esteem and excessive self-criticism

has a heightened sense of empathy and am hypersensitive to the feelings and needs of my peers, although my perceptions are often biased towards negative attributes.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Also called NPD is characterized by a grandiose sense of self, need for admiration and lack of empathy so some of you might be thinking "Why is this considered for Kanade then, she has high empathy and low self-esteem". Well the thing with NPD is that it's a mask to hide low self-esteem for most people and there's subtype called covert npd where this insecurity might be more out in the open and Kanade's search for an ideal version of herself, I thought she might have some npd traits, specifically of that subtype too and decided to look into it.

The symptoms are:

Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).

Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love.

Believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions).

Requires excessive admiration.

Has a sense of entitlement (i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations).

Is interpersonally exploitative (i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends).

Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others.

Is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her.

Shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes."

Now I need to note that dsm has been criticized for making the criteria from a more stereotypical view of npd and especially not considering people who fit the vulnerable subtype more but besides that the symptoms that stand out to me are 2, 8 and maybe 6. Let's talk about those;

2. She is occupied with fantasies of success, brilliance and ideal life (rather than specifically love) but these aren't necessarily lift her self esteem up but achieve her goal which is explained better by things like ptsd.

8. She seems a little envious of others but it's also again for rational reasons that probably wouldn't be considered a symptom

And lastly 6. the wording of this throws most people off to be honest but it can be seen as Kanade taking advantage of Mafuyu's situation for her savior complex to some people though she geniunely cares for Mafuyu as well.

I personally don't think she has npd, just considered it, and some symptoms stood out to me depending on how you look at it, however if some people headcanon her as such and especially because they relate to her, these could be why as well.

To add a few traits Kanade shows as well or can be seen as such:

can become anxious and spiral into a depression if she doesn’t receive praise or admiration (or the expected response to her work)

is incredibly sensitive to criticism. (This is better explained by AvPD in my opnion)

is often depressed and/or anxious.

Avoidant Personality Disorder

AvPD or sometimes APD for short is personality disorder characterized by low self esteem and fear of negative social evulation. The symptoms are:

Avoids occupational activities that involve significant interpersonal contact because of fears of criticism, disapproval, or rejection.

Is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked.

Shows restraint within intimate relationships because of the fear of being shamed or ridiculed.

Is preoccupied with being criticized or rejected in social situations.

Is inhibited in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy.

Views self as socially inept, personally unappealing, or inferior to others.

Is unusually reluctant to take personal risks or to engage in any new activities because they may prove embarrassing.

The symptoms Kanade shows are:

1.She does this however it seems to be for other reasons than criticism or rejection.

2-3.She kind of seems to do this? But she was also quick to get along with Ichika which may be because Ichika expressed admiration to her quickly annd seemed to lessen throughout the course of the story

4.We covered this in SAD but yes, she does this

5-6.Yes, she does often see herself as socially inadequate compared to others

7.She's unwilling to take on new activities or risks indeed, and in some situations, it does seem to be because they may prove embrassing.

I can see why someone can see AvPD traits in her as well, personally it'd be a question of if these traits are better explained by SAD or not.

Some traits of AvPD that Kanade shows are:

has no idea how to take compliments

compliments can often make her nervous because then she feels like she has to meet an expectation, and she's confident she will fail maybe except for composing.

often avoids (or used to avoid) opportunities which could be good for her because she's afraid of failing.

can take a long time to reply to people because she's afraid her response will be criticized.

(used to alot more often) avoids initiating contact with people as much as she can.

hates being angry or sad or expressing any form of negative emotion in front of other people.

(used to be a lot more) is so afraid of asking for help, even when she desperately needs it.

And Lastly

Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

OCPD for short is a personality disorder charactherized by preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and intepersonal control at the cost of flexiblity. The symptoms are:

Is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost.

Shows perfectionism that interferes with task completion (e.g., is unable to complete a project because his or her own overly strict standards are not met).

Is excessively devoted to work and productivity to the exclusion of leisure activities and friendships (not accounted for by obvious economic necessity).

Is overconscientious, scrupulous, and inflexible about matters of morality, ethics, or values (not accounted for by cultural or religious identification).

Is unable to discard worn-out or worthless objects even when they have no sentimental value.

Is reluctant to delegate tasks or to work with others unless they submit to exactly his or her way of doing things.

Adopts a miserly spending style toward both self and others; money is viewed as something to be hoarded for future catastrophes.

Shows rigidity and stubbornness."

Symptoms Kanade shows are:

1-2. She can be overly focused on details of a song to make sure it's perfect however she does usually upload songs when necessary and is really strict on that actually.

3. This is present and was extremely present in early story.

4. She is overly focused on if she can "save" someone so maybe it can be counted as such

5. I remember something like this happening in early story however it could have been better accounted by something like depression.

6. I'm not sure about this one because she reached out to Mafuyu herself but she was also amazed by Mafuyu's music's quality and niigo often does things exactly as she likes and was unwilling to work with others before Mafuyu if i remember correctly so this may count as well.

And I don't think she has the rest, these can be better accounted by other disabilities however I thought it was worth mentioining.

And some OCPD traits Kanade shows are:

sense of self is derived from her work or productivity, and she defines herself by her accomplishments in these activities.

prone to repetition in tasks and the way she handles things.

pays very close attention to rules and follow them closely.

is constantly looking for possible mistakes.

finds time management incredibly difficult because I often become preoccupied.

is incredibly devoted to her work.

can become stir-crazy if she spends too much time relaxing. She often feels She don’t have time to take a day off or spend time doing something fun.

hates feeling like she’s wasted time.

When she does spend time with friends, it’s often an organized activity. She does not like spontaneity.

is her own worst critic.

This was all for Kanade, again I'm not saying she has all these or writers had the intention of giving her all these. I just wanted to do a fan psychopathological analysis of her character and common headcanons and my guesses. It was a long essay but hope you guys enjoyed it. If I missed anything you know she MIGHT have it as well, please let me know and I'll do my research on it and edit this too!

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amenbpdtism · 6 months ago

Text

A Look at Nightcord at 25:00 and Neurodivergency (Part 2)

For notes, check out part 1

Warning for r-slur in criteria from DSM

Asahina Mafuyu

Asahina Mafuyu is sort of the main character of the unit "Nightcord at 25:00" and does the arrangement of the group. In terms of personality, she appears very friendly and nice on the outside but on the inside she struggles with a persistent feeling of emptiness and constantly trying to live to her mother's expectation while having lost her sense of self. Now let's have a look at her and her symptoms.

Autism

Autism is mainly charactherized by social differences and repetetiveness in daily life to summerize a medical or common definition of it.

"A. Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple con- texts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative,

not exhaustive; see text):

In other words

"A1 asks if your social interaction is neurotypical

Do you like/love small talk?

Do you use small talk to indicate your class, education, income, religion, and political views without saying it directly?

Do you like being in social gatherings for extended periods?

Do you prefer speaking superficially and generally, rather than about your areas of interest?

Do you choose to hang out and socialize with people rather than interact for a purpose?

A2 asks about differences in eye contact, voice, body language

A3 asks if you have differences in your relationships

For example, it can be tough to know when a person is a true friend and not just saying that they are a friend; or if someone is flirting with you or not."

So let's look at Mafuyu:

A1. Mafuyu on the outside seems to be able to do this perfectly so to some people she might not seem autistic because they think "autistic people wouldn't be able to do that at all" but there's this thing called "masking" which is actually officially recognized and is mentioned in criteria c, "C-Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities, or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)." which is what many people believe mafuyu does, she's really good at masking because in reality, she's not interested in most things that aren't related to making songs with niigo and often gives really short answers. She's also not good at understanding others' emotions so these differences led many people to headcanon her as autistic.

A2. Mafuyu once again does this perfectly when she's around people however when she's around niigo, her voice becomes a lot more cold and deep and she doesn't use gestures and such much from what we've seen in 2d models too for example unlike when she's masking.

A3. The issue I mentioned in the previous post stays still but Mafuyu does seem to easily make friends when she's masking but she doesn't even consider most of them friends or real friends at least and there's a select few she can solely act like her true self around.

"B. Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at

least two of the following, currently or by history (examples are illustrative, not exhaustive; see text):

Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases).

Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g., strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interests).

In other words:

"B1- Stimming

B2-A need for routine or sameness

B3- Special Insterest(s)

B4- Sensory issues whether it's being too sensitive to incoming stimuli or undersensitive"

For Mafuyu:

B1- I haven't seen any stimmimng since again we can't tell that much from 2d models and mafuyu doesn't move much in 3d lives however maybe this hand position could be providing some comfort to her because it's usually how she positions her in lives.

B2- Her routine is pretty same however this was mostly due to her mother having a huge hold on her life and not because she necessarily wants it to be that way. It seems to follow a routine ever since she ran away too however it's not a very strict routine or noticeable like Kanade's.

B3-Mafuyu's at a point in her where she struggle's to find anything interesting so this criteria is kind of hard to judge.

B4- While most autistic people are sensitive to sensory stimuli around them, it is also possible to be undersensitive which mafuyu most of the time feels hard to feel anything at all and is known to especially be undersensitive to things she can taste.

Someone has to show all 3 symptoms in A criteria and at least 2 in B criteria since birth so Mafuyu realistically may or may not get diagnosed with autism but especially because of the A criteria and her masking, I can see why a lot of autistic people relate to her or her struggles in daily life.

Also some common traits Mafuyu shows are:

has difficulty picking up on sarcasm or metaphors

often uses overly literal language

has difficulty opening up to others and sharing my emotions

Sometimes shuts down and just doesn’t want to speak at all

has trouble with perspective and understanding others’ viewpoints

has difficulty self-analyzing and therefore have difficulty letting people know how she's feeling and expressing her needs

comes off as harsh sometimes because she has difficulty understanding others

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a disorder charactherized by experiences with psychosis and/or withdrawal from socializing to loosely sum it up but let's just look at the symptoms, shall we?:

"A. Two (or more) of the following, each present for a significant portion of time during a 1 -month period (or less if successfully treated). At least one of these must be (1 ), (2), or (3):

Delusions.

Hallucinations.

Disorganized speech (e.g., frequent derailment or incoherence).

Grossly disorganized or catatonic behavior.

Negative symptoms (i.e., diminished emotional expression or avolition).

B. For a significant portion of the time since the onset of the disturbance, level of function- ing in one or more major areas, such as work, interpersonal relations, or self-care, is markedly below the level achieved prior to the onset (or when the onset is in childhood or adolescence, there is failure to achieve expected level of interpersonal, academic, or occupational functioning). C. Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. This 6-month period must include at least 1 month of symptoms (or less if successfully treated) that meet Criterion A (i.e., active-phase symptoms) and may include periods of prodromal or residual symptoms. During these prodromal or residual periods, the signs of the disturbance may be manifested by only negative symptoms or by two or more symptoms listed in Criterion A present in an attenuated form (e.g., odd beliefs, unusual perceptual experiences)."

Mafuyu's symptoms are:

In the a criteria; delusions, hallucinations and disorganized speech are different symptoms of psychosis and Mafuyu did experience hallucination in the Secret Distance side story of her card so she might check symptom 2, we know she experienced it just not how often. And her speech as i mentioned have become much more shorter aka alogia and many other symptoms in this criteria such anhedonia aka loss of interest in things, affective flattening aka diminished social expression, asociality, alexithymia aka diminished ability to recognize your feelings and more.

B. These do cause her great trouble emotionally and mentally, she's just good at hiding these, or masking these, that they don't reflect on others much.

C. The signs of the negative symptoms (Psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia are called the "positive symptoms" and others such as social withdrawal are called the "negative symptoms") have lasted for years however we don't know if the psychotic symptoms have lasted enough so this might not be checked however this is also why I considered Mafuyu being schizophrenic rather than just psychotic depression.

Some common schizphrenia traits Mafuyu shows are:

has difficulty expressing herself.

has experienced these symptoms since childhood or adolescence.

is frequently depressed and have little hope for her future.

has become more withdrawn since her symptoms began.

has a low appetite.

experiences dissociation.

Major Depressive Disorder

MDD for short, is mostly characterized by low mood and changes in daily actions due to it in daily life for 2 weeks or more to sum it up.

The symptoms are:

Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation).

Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.

Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others).

Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

Symptoms Mafuyu shows are:

This is present, Mafuyu is in a low mood and especially feels emptiness almost every day.

Mafuyu's lost interest in pretty much everything to the point that she doesn't know what she wants to do anymore.

This isn't present likely because her mother was keeping her in check

Also doesn't seem to be present because, again her mom was keeping her check however we do know that she went to sleep late so maybe insomnia was present.

When not masking, her movement is a lot more slower than usual and to most people around her so this is present.

I'm not sure about this one because energy loss might have been present due to her losing interest in most things too but because she had to hide it from others.

She did felt worthless at some point if i remember correctly? But she was mostly lost to on what to do in general.

This was present in indecisiveness in the way that she didn't like or care about anything anymore that she barely chose anything when she was given a choice to do herself.

This is once again the most present symptom in most niigo members, Mafuyu was the one to say others wanted to disappear or die like she did too.

Many people say Mafuyu canonicaly has depression however her symptoms can mean a number of things but it is very clear why so many people think that way and I'm glad Project SEKAI writers gave many different presentations of depression. On top of that, as I stated before, Mafuyu experienced hallucinations too which could mean she experiences psychotic depression like many people say.

Other common traits and signs of mdd seen in Mafuyu are:

Imagines herself dying somehow

Sometimes, can get moody or snappy

Often feels very numb, like she has no feelings at all

blames herself for things which could not possibly be her fault

Schizoaffective Disorder

Schizoaffective Disorder is charactherized by experiencing sufficent amount of a major mood disorder (more specifically a mani episode, a mjaor depressive episode or a mixed episode) symptoms alongside of schizophrenia symptoms. These episodes or symptoms usually occur together or within a few days from each other and since Mafuyu's depressive symptoms are pretty much always there and she experienced hallucination during it too, perhaps schizoaffective disorder could be a fitting diagnosis too.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Or GAD for short is a disorder charactherized by anxiety in various things that might occur in daily life.

The symptoms are:

Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge.

Being easily fatigued.

Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank.

Irritability.

Muscle tension.

Sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless, unsatisfying sleep)."

Now I'm gonna cut this short again, Mafuyu does experience some worry about daily things like her work performence but a majority of this is because she's scared of disappointing or hurting her rather than actually caring about those things so some people with intense GAD relate to her on those things but I personally don't think these symptoms would count towards a diagnosis.

However some common traits Mafuyu also has are:

has anxiety attacks

when she's stressed, she can become snappy with others

onstantly worries about the quality of her performances at work and/or school

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD for short is a disorder charactherized by either obsessions, compulsions or both. Obsessions in this case refer to intrusive aka unwanted thoughts and compulsions to reduce anxiety caused by them. It's a complex disorder with many different characteristics and its own spectrum of disabilities however this is diagnostic criteria with either obsessions or compulsions taking at least one hour out of your day to be diagnosed. Maybe Mafuyu's intrusive thought could be related to disappointing her mother and compulsions are basically almost everything she does but the reason I've seen most people relate to Mafuyu with ocd is because Mafuyu said "Just think you'll die if you don't do your work" to Ena and Mizuki in an area conversation which reminded of them their intrusive thoughts telling them those kind of things.

Some common OCD traits Mafuyu has are:

has anxiety or panic attacks

sometimes mirrors other people.